This article investigates how well South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) responds to the material and psychosocial needs of adolescents, and the resultant effects on schooling and risky behaviour. One driver of schooling decisions is shame related to poverty and the ‘social cost’ of school, where a premium must often be paid for fashionable clothes or accessories. The other driver relates to symbolic and consumptive capital gained through engaging in sexual exchange relationships. The anticipated impacts from the CSG are partial because of these non-material drivers of adolescent choices. …

Social protection is high on the HIV-prevention agenda for youth in sub-Saharan Africa. However, questions remain: How do unconditional cash transfers work? What is the effect of augmenting cash provision with social care? And can “cash plus care” social protection reduce risks for adolescents most vulnerable to infection? This study tackles these questions by first identifying mediated pathways to adolescent HIV risks and then examining potential main and moderating effects of social protection in South Africa.

The collection of these tales aims to provide relevant and experiential case studies for participants in gender-related courses in schools, colleges and universities, as well as in non-formal education settings. Most of the tales were written and tested by facilitators and learners during the annual 'Gender and Development in Southern Africa' course between 1998 and 2000. Several were also tested in a UNICEF workshop on 'Gender, Sexuality and HIV/ AIDS in Education', which was held in Malawi in July 2001. …

Children and youth affected by HIV/AIDS face many stressors and competing priorities regarding family, health, education, protection and economic stability. The policy environment created by the Dakar Framework for Action–Education for All created an entry point for governments to respond to the educational needs of orphans and vulnerable children based on locally driven context. The international community has made financial and programming resources available to support education for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS at the country level. …

The phenomenon of cross-generational sex – defined as sexual relationships between an adolescent girl and a partner who is older, usually by 10 or more years – can be linked to many life-long consequences. …

Strengthening the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African region through human rights uses rights-based frameworks to address some of the serious sexual and reproductive health challenges that the African region is currently facing. More importantly, the book provides insightful human rights approaches on how these challenges can be overcome. The book is the first of its kind. …

This discussion paper synthesizes the evidence for the effectiveness of cash transfers for HIV prevention and explores
implications and opportunities for advancing research and policy agendas. Much of this evidence centres on girls and
young women, who bear significant HIV burdens, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and often have less control over
their sexual choices than do men. Many forms of transfers exist that may contribute to HIV prevention. …

This review focuses on the major factors that drive HIV infection and explores interventions that have demonstrated effectiveness, as well as illustrating important learnings for programme development. Findings inform understanding of sex and sexuality in relation to HIV risk and the potentials for interventions in the Botswana context.

Background: In 2005, the resources needed to support orphans and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa were estimated at US$1.1–4.1 billion. Approaches to support vulnerable children have changed considerably since then. This study updates previous estimates by including new types of support and information on support costs. Methods: We considered 16 types of support categorized as economic strengthening, education support, social care and community outreach, and program support. …

This paper argues that many internationally financed literacy programs do not sufficiently take into consideration important daily life issues of the learners, including nutritional deficiencies that may hinder learning, or of children–parent–society interactions that may improve learning. As a result, many programs have become synonymous with increased supply of a low-quality education. …

We adapted a U.S. HIV prevention program to address knowledge gaps and cultural pressures that increase the risk of infection in adolescent Ghanaian girls. The theory-based nine-module HIV prevention program combines didactics and games, an interactive computer program about sugar daddies, and tie-and-dye training to demonstrate an economic alternative to transactional sex. The abstinence-based study was conducted in a church-affiliated junior secondary school in Nsawam, Ghana. Of 61 subjects aged 10-14 in the prevention program, over two thirds were very worried about becoming HIV infected. …

The Building Capacities for Non formal Education and Life Skills Programmes project in Uganda was implemented by Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) with financial and technical support from UNESCO - Section for Literacy and non Formal Education in 2004-05; aiming at assisting vulnerable and marginalised youth affected by HIV/AIDS and other risk behaviour, those that may be homeless or living in hopeless situation both in urban centres and rural areas. …

Cash payments to improve health outcomes have been used for many years; however, their use for HIV prevention is new and the impact not yet well understood. We provide a brief background on the rationale behind using cash to improve health outcomes, review current studies completed or underway using cash for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV, and outline some key considerations on the use of cash payments to prevent HIV infections. We searched the literature for studies that implemented cash transfer programs and measured HIV or HIV-related outcomes. …